Wilder Report Omits Recount Expense

RICHMOND — Gov. L. Douglas Wilder paid $15,000 in campaign funds to lawyers who helped with the recount of his election last year, but did not list the expense on his campaign disclosure forms.

Wilder's spokeswoman, Laura Dillard, said the disclosure forms - filed with the state Board of Elections six months ago - will be amended today.

"It's an unfortunate oversight, but the governor had nothing to do with it," Dillard said.

Dillard said the forms were filled out by campaign staff members and that the omission was accidental, the result of rushing to meet the Jan. 15 filing deadline.

"There's no reason not to put it on the report," she said. "It's completely legitimate for the campaign to pay it."

The lawyers who handled the unprecedented recount of Wilder's election last December were supposed to be paid by the state Democratic Party. Two officials who were involved in the process said the party had asked Wilder to help pay the bills, and he gave all they had asked for.

The party has already paid the lawyers $70,000, according to its chairman and Wilder's political advisor, Paul Goldman. But there is a dispute over whether some of the lawyers were still owed as much as $60,000.

Wilder ended the campaign with $185,000 left over, his latest disclosure forms show. Dillard said there are no commitments for him to use any of that money to pay the outstanding bills.

"He hasn't been asked," she said. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

The Dec. 22 recount caused only minor adjustments in the Nov. 6 election results and confirmed Wilder's victory over Republican J. Marshall Coleman by a scant 6,700 votes out of a record 1.8 million cast.

A day after the recount, Wilder personally delivered a check to party headquarters, hoping to be able to thank the staff for working on his recount. The staff, however, had been given the day off, one party official said.